


Frostbite

by Gallus



Series: Here There Be Dragons [4]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-22 07:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19662424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gallus/pseuds/Gallus
Summary: A condition that can easily go unnoticed until it is too late(OrBoy That Sure Is An Ominous Sounding Summary Huh)





	Frostbite

**Author's Note:**

> I went back and forth on whether or not to include stuff from the Law novel but i decided against it considering the thing's not done yet
> 
> This starts serious but gets goofier after the Clown Brigade (i.e. the other heart pirates) show up.

Trafalgar D. Water Law’s full name is supposed to be kept a secret. The first time Law asked his parents why they said they would tell him when he’s older. The second time Law asked his parents they said it was a family matter, and he needed to wait for Lammy to be just a bit older.

To bad Lammy never got the chance to be any older.

-

Law hides from marine patrols among the piles of bodies. He can hear their heavy boat steps from around corners, and he stays downwind so as to smell their ash drenched coats. He stays alive out of spite, but spite can only get you so far when you’re ten.

Law hears rumors of the Donquixote Pirates ruthlessness, he also hears that they have frequent run-ins with marine forces. Even better.

Law’s busy explaining how his only purpose in life is to kill as many people as possible, when some bastard throws him out a window.

-

It's not hard to sneak up on the bastard. All Law has to do is stay downwind, and walk softly. Hiding from the marines was harder than this.

To bad the bastard is harder to kill than he looks.

When Doflamingo calls to speak with him personally Law expects he's been ratted out, but instead he's welcome into the crew with open arms.

Law doesn't know why the bast- Corazon covered for him, but at this point Law's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

-

Life with the Donquixote Family is… better. It’s not perfect, but they teach Law how to defend himself, and they feed him, and sometimes when the spoils are getting cut up Law gets to keep a few rare coins.

Law loves his coin collection. He’s always liked having extra pocket change for some reason, but now he’s able to get a hold of coins that are actually hard to find. The crown jewel of his collection is a misprint 50 berry from south blue, the head faces left instead of right.

Having to leave the bulk of his coin collection behind is just part of the reason he’s so pissed when Corazon kidnaps him.

-

Law’s always been the Weird Kid, he’s come to terms with that The average ten year old doesn't dissect frogs for fun, doesn’t have encyclopedia-esque medical knowledge, and doesn't have eyes that glow when you shine a light at then.

That doesn't mean he needs doctors telling him he’s a monster. Law already know that he’s weird, and a monster, and dying, so why is Corazon dragging him around like this?

Law starts to think that maybe this is some kind of twisted revenge for that time Law stabbed him, but if that were it than Corazon wouldn’t have lied to Doflamingo.

Corazon drags him all up and down North Blue. They go to bigger, fancier hospitals, and every one turns Law away, and then Corazon sets them on fire. For someone so clumsy Corazon is shockingly good at controlled burns.

It eventually dawns on Law that Corazon is 100% completely genuine in his efforts. Then Law accidentally calls him Cora out loud, and the huge idiot has to go and make a big deal about it.

Things are nice for a while, so of course his health has to go and take a turn for the worse.

Law starts having horrible fever dreams just about every other night. He dreams things like he’s burning alive, or gnawed on by strange animals. On one particularly bad night he dreams that his body is a shell that he has to tear his way out of. The morning after that one he wakes up in Corazon’s arms. Law doesn’t bring it up, and, thankfully neither does Cora.

-

Cora’s dead, but it’s okay. Law’s used to it by now. He makes it to swallow island in one piece, He’s looking for somewhere safe to sleep when he stumbles on a pair of kid beating up a polar bear. Law doesn’t feel anything. He stands and watches until one of the boys notices him.

“Hey! What's your problem!?” the kid yells.

Quite abruptly Law doesn’t want the boys there anymore. A blue sheen coats the world, and where the boys were is now a couple of rocks.

“What the hell!” yells someone behind Law. It’s one of the boys. They were in front of Law and now they’re not.

Law looks at them over his shoulder. The blue sheen is still there. “Go away.” he growled.

The two boys scrambled away. Law turned his attention back to the bear, and the blue sheen fell away.

“W-what was that?” asked the bear. Law didn’t know what that was, he also didn’t know that bears could talk.

Law walked in the opposite direction from where the boys had ran off to. He walked, and walked, and walked, until he found a rock outcropping that could vaguely be described as a cave. He tucked himself into a corner, and fell asleep. He didn’t dream about anything.

-

Law woke up to something furry on his face. He blinked up blearily, it was the bear.

"Umm." the bear said as it pulled it's paw away from Law's face, "Umm, you look sick."

"I am." Law said groggily. He sat up slowly. He’d better try to figure out how this whole devil fruit thing work before the white lead killed him. It’d be to bad if Cora died for no reason instead of just a bad one.

That blue sheen from yesterday must have had something to do with the devil fruit. Law tried to remember how he’d felt in that moment. He had been a little annoyed, but mostly he had felt nothing. He focuses on the patches of white on his hands, he thinks about how he wants them gone.

Suddenly the blue sheen returned. The bear sprung back with a surprised, “Eep!”

Law didn’t pay the bear any attention. He concentrated on the blue, he tried flexing his fingers, then he could feel it. He could feel where the lead was in his veins, and he knew what he needed to do. He looked back at the bear, “Do you think you know where I can get some sterile knives?” he asked.

“Umm, I think so. why?” said the bear.

“Good.” replied Law, “I’m going to need to perform a surgery.”

-

It’s easier to make incisions while the blue is up, it doesn’t hurt either. Law is able to basically unwind himself to cut out the white lead. He starts inwards and works his way out. He unblocks his arteries, and cleans out his liver. He scrapes the patches of white off his major organs, then moves on to his skin.

The bear, Bepo, looks like he’s going to throw up for most of the operation, but he stays by Law’s side, passing knives and towels to him.

In the end Law’s not sure how long it takes, but he doesn’t stop until there’s no more sign of the white lead. Law closes up the final incision, and passes out.

-

Law wakes up to the sound of people chattering. He groans, and reluctantly cracks an eye open. It’s those two kids from before, and it looks like they're talking with Bepo. God, Law hopes he doesn’t have to kick theirs asses this time, he’s way too tired for this shit.

At the noise Bepo rushes forward to hover above Law awkwardly. “Are you okay?” he asks.

Law sits up slowly, and waves Bepo away. “What do you two want?” he growls at the boys.

“We wanted to apologize!” the one in the cap says at the same time as the redhead says, “Please don’t hurt us!”

Law waves a hand noncommittally, “Apology accepted. Now all of you leave.”

He tries to stand, but is pushed back down by Bepo. “You can’t walk!” says Bepo, “You just pulled all of your organs and put them back in! You need to rest, probably.” he seems unsure about that last part. So’s Law to be honest.

“He did what!?” squeaks the redhead as the cap-guy says, “Wait, what?”

Law’s know these two for about fifteen seconds, and he’s already getting a headache.

Bepo walks away, and comes back with a skewed fish. He shoves it into Law’s hands, “Here,” he says, “you should at least eat something.”

Law’s about to protest when the smell hits him. It’s the first time in weeks that the smell of food hasn’t made him want to throw up. He scarfs down in thirty seconds flat. When he’s done he looks up to see Bepo holding out another skewer. Law takes it, and eats more slowly this time.

“So who are you two.” he asks the boys.

“My name’s Penguin, and this is Shachi.” says cap-guy at the same time redhead says “I’m Shachi, he’s Penguin.”

Do they only have one brain cell between them?

“We’re sorry for beating up Bepo. We thought he was a real bear that was going to eat us.” says Penguin.

“And we were really hungry.” says Shachi.

“That too.” agrees Penguin.

“You were going to eat me?!” says Bepo aghast.

“Only because we didn’t know you could talk!” protests Shachi.

Law listens to the three of them go back and forth. It’s almost nice; eating dinner like this, and have people not be scared of him. Law decides to let them hang around, for now.

-

‘For now’ slowly turns into three years.

Penguin and Shachi were orphaned in a pirate attack a few years ago, and recently ran from Shachi’s abusive aunt and uncle to live in the woods.

Bepo got lost searching for his missing brother.

Law doesn’t have anywhere to go.

After that first meal together, Penguin and Shachi invite Law and Bepo to stay with them in the abandoned shack they’ve been using as a home.

The four of them stick together. Law teaches the other three how to defend themselves. Penguin and Shachi help Law get used to being around people again. Bepo fishes, and studies navigation. All four of them do odd jobs around town. 

It’s nice right up until the day Law sees a newspaper with the headline ‘Donquixote Doflamingo New King of Dressrosa’

When Law packs his things up he doesn’t expect the other to come with him.

“What about your brother?” Law asks Bepo.

“I’m never going to find him if I just stay on this island.” says Bepo.

“I thought you two hated pirates.” Law says to Penguin and Shachi.

“I think I could be a pirate if I were following you.” says Penguin.

Law doesn’t know what to say.

“Shall we get going, Captain?” Shachi says with a smile.

Law swallows thickly, and nods.

-

The first thing Law’s newly formed band of pirates needs is a decent ship. Right now they have a little dinghy, but if they’re going to survive the trip up Reverse Mountain than they’re going to need a real ship.

Thay find that ship by luck at a crappy dive bar. Some idiot Marine is drunk, and bragging about the secret project he’s been guarding to anyone who will listen.

“‘S like a ship, but it goes underwater.” the man says.

“Is that so?” says Law.

“Yeah! ‘N they’re doin’ som’tin to the hull so’s it can go round the calm belt! slurs the man.

“Fascinating.” says Law drly as he stands, “Thank you for time. I’ll be seeing you soon.”

-

Stealing the ship should be an easy job. All Law has to do is Shambles the four of them onto the boat, and then they sail off.

To bad none of them have any fucking clue how to pilot this thing.

Bepo gets the engine running, but before there’s time to celebrate a fresh batch of Marines board the ship. Law is looking for something in range to Shambles them away with when something smacks into his side.

Law hears the gunshot as Shachi plows into him at full force, knocking him to the ground. When Law looks up Shachi is standing there with a hand covering his stomach. Law can smell blood, and when Shachi gives a shaky thumbs up he can see the blood all over Shachi’s hand.

Shachi is hurt. Law’s blood runs cold. Penguin is yelling something. Shachi is falling to the ground. Law feels steam in his mouth. The ship engine is running under his feet, but all Law can focus on is the man that shot Shachi, is Shachi on the floor, is the man that hurt Shachi, the man that Hurt Shachi, the man that _hurt Shachi._

Law steps forward, and something

_Snaps_

And

-

He wakes up.

Something’s wrong.

He’s on the deck of the new boat. He swings his head around, and all he can see is blue sky. They must be on the open ocean. Then he picks up the faint scent of blood, and

Shachi

He hauls himself up on all fours. It’s a bit awkward having to use his wing joints like feet, but he’s too top-heavy to walk with just his hind limbs. 

He can’t see Shachi on the deck anywhere, but he does see Bepo dozing by the door leading inwards.

He tries to say _‘Bepo, what happened?’_ but all that comes out is a long growl. Bepo jumps awake with a start.

“Captain, please don’t eat me.” cries Bepo.

Why’s Bepo acting so strange, is the situation with Shachi so bad? He needs to see Shachi. He tries to ask Bepo again, but his mouth won't make the right noises, “Shhh-aw-*click*”

“Shaw-ch? Shachi!” says Bepo, “Yes! Shachi’s doing fine, it wasn’t as bad as we thought.” But he’s not listening to Bepo anymore. He needs to see Shachi. One of his things is hurt. He needs to see.

Bepo jumps in front of the door, arms spread. “C-captain, I don’t think you’ll fit!”

Penguin opens the door. He pushes past Bepo and presses his snout to Penguin’s torso. The man goes stiff beneath him. He huffs a few times, and picks up on the stronger scent of Shachi.

“Shhh-aw-*click*, Shhh-aw-*click*” he says.

“Um, I think Captain wants to see Shachi.” says Bepo.

“R-right.” says Penguin, “I’ll bring him over.” and he disappears back inside.

Bepo pats him carefully above the muzzle. “See? It’s okay, Captain. Now let’s just back up a little so they have room to get out, okay?”

Yes, that seems like a good idea. He backs up a few steps, then sits on his haunches, and folds his wings back in place.

After a few moments Penguin comes back out with a tied looking Shachi over his shoulder. Shachi gives a small wave.

He jumps back up as soon as Shachi is outside. He twists his head around Shachi checking for injures. Shachi laughs, “It’s like a big, scaley puppy.”

“Yeah,” Penguin says sarcastically, “ a scaley puppy that shoots ice out of its mouth.”

“And flys!” Bepo added.

Satisfied that Shachi was as uninjured as previously claimed he lifted up a wing, hooked Shachi with a horn, and pushed him against his side. Then, because he was closest, grabbed Bepo by the scruff of his neck and placed him next to Shachi. Penguin almost got away, but he was too busy laughing to make a proper escape.

Good. With all his things safe now, he could go back to sleep. He tucks his wing back down over the three of them

“Hey, you’re pretty cold for a lizard, Captain.” says Shachi.

“Of course he is,” says Penguin, “He can breathe ice, or whatever”

“And fly.” added Bepo sleepily.

He huffed, and drifted back off to sleep.

-

Law wakes up

He can feel a headache coming on already.

He’s lying flat on the deck of the ship they just stole. Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi are all simultaneously on his back, and under his left arm. And the three of them are acting like they’ve just tripped, or suddenly been dropped.

Also Law is naked.

“Why,” Hissed Law, “ am I naked.”

“Captain!” the three of them yelled in joy as they jumped up. When they jumped up it pulled Law’s arm a bit too far in the wrong direction. That was probably sprained, but Law was refusing to sit up until he got answers.

“Where are my clothes.” said Law. If gave him an answer soon, somebody was going to get Shambles-ed into the ocean. 

Preferably himself.

“Well,” started Penguin, “I think they exploded off when you turned into a huge lizard.”

What.

“He didn’t turn into a lizard!” Yelled Shachi, “That was a dragon, and you know it!”

The.

Penguin slapped Shachi on the back of the head, “Don’t be a moron! Dragons have two wings and four legs, he only had two legs!”

Hell.

“Ohh, so now you’re mister dragon expert, huh.” snarked Shachi.

Law buried him forehead into the deck.

“I’ll go get you new clothes, Captain!” said Bepo, like an angel.

“Thanks.” Law mumbled.

“So s’that part of your devil fruit, Captain?” asked Shachi.

“No.” Law gritted out.

“So why’d you turn into a four-limbed, ice-breathing, lizard thing just now than?” asked Penguin

“Five-limbed.” said Shachi, “I think spiky tails count as an extra limb.”

As Penguin and Shachi continued to argue semantics, Law remembered the question about his name and heritage that his parents promised to explain when he was older.

“Captain! I’m back with your clothes!”

And how the Celestial Dragons feared the so called ‘Clan of D’.

“-And dragons don’t even breathe ice, they breathe fire!”

Law sits up. 

“Is this a fucking joke?” he asks no one in particular.

-

It is not, in fact, a fucking joke.

Okay, so Law’s a dragon, he just never noticed. The ‘D’ stands for ‘Dragon’ , or whatever. fine

Okay. that’s not too bad, Law can work with this.

**Author's Note:**

> Law did it. He solved the mystery. Also, it's like my biggest pet peeve when a character shapeshifts into a huge monster and their clothes are just? Fine?
> 
> Next one might be a little longer coming cuz. It's Luffy PoV. The hardest PoV of them all


End file.
